strong winds continued to cause havoc across the Midlands today as gusts of nearly 65 mph battered the region.

Emergency crews were on high alert as gales felled trees, ripped down power cables and in one part of Birmingham tore the roof off of a row of houses.

Thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused after the roof was ripped off three properties as the gusts topped 85mph.

Firefighters from Ward End were called to Reginald Road in Alum Rock, at around 1.15pm yesterday. ncredibly nobody was hurt when tiles and two chimneys fell, smashing onto nearby cars.

Fire crews used a hydraulic platform to secure the mid-terrace houses.

Ida Jobate, aged 35, was returning from the doctor when she saw fire crews outside her home.

She said: "It was really windy. I really didn't think I was going to come home to see my roof on the pavement. One of the firemen was trying to cover the roof but by the time they left they said there was little more they could do."

A Tamworth teenager was airlifted to Heartlands Hospital after the car she was travelling in was hit by a fallen tree. The 17-year-old driver was trapped for 45 minutes after the tree was blown on to the roof of her car, in North Warwickshire, at around 10am.

The girl was finally cut free by firefighters and treated for a fractured leg, suspected spinal injuries and hypothermia.

A 22-year-old male passenger, also from Tamworth, was taken to Good Hope Hospital in Sutton, with head injuries. A man was killed in the the village of Britty Common, in Somerset, when a tree collapsed on the car he was travelling in.

Meanwhile Navy dive teams are on standby today as the search continues for seven missing fishermen off the Irish coast.